Granville Hinton was an insurance agent from Savannah

Savannah, Tennessee

Savannah is a city in Hardin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,917 at the 2000 census and the 2007 population estimate was 7,262. It is the county seat of Hardin County. Savannah hosted the NAIA college football national championship game from 1996-2007. Savannah is home to...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 who served as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Tennessee House of Representatives

Tennessee House of Representatives

The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

 from various districts including (Hardin

Hardin County, Tennessee

Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. State of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 26,026. The Hardin County seat is Savannah. The county was named posthumously for Col. Joseph Hardin, a Revolutionary War soldier and a legislative representative for the Province of North Carolina and...

 and McNairy counties from 1967-1972.

He later served as Tennessee state Commisssioner of Conservation

Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation

The Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation is the head of the Department of Environment and Conservation of the U.S. state of Tennessee, which is responsible for environmental protection, conservation of natural resources, and management of state parks...

 under Governor Winfield Dunn

Winfield Dunn

Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn was the 43rd Governor of Tennessee, from 1971 to 1975.-Biography:Dunn was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis in 1955 with a D.D.S. Dunn...

, and was the Legislative Liaison (lobbyist) for Governor Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Andrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...

 from 1978-1986.

Political career

Hinton was elected to the House from the 31st Floterial District

Floterial district

A floterial district is a legislative district that includes in its boundaries several separate districts which independently would not be entitled to additional representation but whose conglomerate population entitles the area to another seat in a legislative body undergoing...

 in 1966 at the age of 37, and served three terms. During his last term in office, he served as assistant minority floor leader

Whip

A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

. He was succeeded by Ray Bodiford

Ray Bodiford

Ray Bodiford was an American insurance agent from Selmer, Tennessee who served as a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 70th district from 1973-1976.He was a member of Tennessee's 1977 Limited Constitutional Convention.In 1980, he ran what...

.

Subsequently, he was appointed Commissioner of Conservation by Governor Winfield Dunn, serving from 1973-75.

In December 1978, Governor-elect Lamar Alexander appointed Hinton his Legislative Liaison (chief lobbyist).

Personal life

Hinton was a State Farm Insurance

State Farm Insurance

State Farm Insurance is a group of insurance and financial services companies in the United States. The company also has operations in Canada....

 insurance agent for 40 years. He was a Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 and a Mason

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

. The Savannah-Hardin Center of Jackson State Community College

Jackson State Community College

Jackson State Community College is a publicly-supported community college located in Jackson, Tennessee and operated under the auspices of the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college offers a range of two-year associate degrees in arts, science and applied-science programs...

offers a small "Granville Hinton Memorial Scholarship Award" to a Hardin County resident who takes most of their classes at the Center.